Malnutrition feared among elderly

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Fears are being raised that more than half of Canterbury's elderly are at risk of malnutrition, with "significant" under-resourcing preventing them getting help.

A study conducted by Canterbury's Healthy Eating, Healthy Ageing (Heha) project, has found 31 per cent of 152 elderly surveyed are at "high risk" of poor nutrition.

Another 23 per cent are "at risk".

Heha co-ordinator and public health dietitian Sally Watson said some of those at high risk were probably already malnourished.

If others did not get help they were "highly likely" to become malnourished.

The malnourished elderly were more likely to suffer falls and had compromised immunity, she said.

"People who are not well-nourished are less likely to be able to live independently in their own homes, more likely to be admitted into acute hospitals for longer lengths of stay and more more likely to be in residential care."

The most common risk factors were unintentional weight change, eating alone, perception of own weight and low milk-product intake, she said.

Canterbury was "significantly under-resourced" in community dietitians working on the issue.

"We know there's a problem, but we have got to have the capacity to deal with those identified as being at risk and we currently don't have those resources.

"It's unethical to screen and not do something with these people and unethical not to do something when you know there's a widespread problem."

Nurses had done nutrition screening and offered advice as part of the Otago Exercise Programme where they visited older people at home, but the programme was recently scrapped by the ACC.

The national nutrition focus was on combating obesity with healthy-eating messages, but older people had a different set of dietary requirements that needed to be addressed, Watson said.

Canterbury's rapidly ageing population brought this need into sharper focus.

"This is not going to go away," she said. "People are getting older and older, and as a country we can't afford to put all these older people into care. We need to have them living independently with a good quality of life."

Watson is one of three dietitians employed by the Canterbury District Health Board to work on aged people's diet and exercise.

Initiatives included training people who worked with the elderly to "raise the nutrition flag".

The health board's Older Persons' Health Specialist Service professional leader dietitian, Margaret Knight, said the number of underweight elderly being admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital was a concern.

Everybody admitted to the service had a nutrition screening form completed and were weighed when necessary. Knight said 85 per cent of the nutrition forms ended up on her desk because the people required help with their diet.

"A significant number are found to be underweight," she said.

"Cooking becomes a real effort when it's only yourself – so they don't," Knight said.

"It could be their memory is not as good. People do forget to eat."

Another problem was getting the elderly to accept help.

"It's possible older people and their health and nutrition needs have perhaps, in recent years, been forgotten, so it's not taken into consideration when looking at public health information that goes out," Knight said.

"It's invaluable to have a team doing work in that area."

- © Fairfax NZ News